Left on Read
by Turtle.Legs
Summary: How can an average Saturday morning for Annabeth Chase turn into an exciting day all because she accidentally texted the wrong number? Who exactly is Percy Jackson and why can't she get him off her mind?


_Left on Read_

Annabeth groaned softly as soft paws continuously swatted at her forehead, cheeks, and nose. Soft grey fur tickling her nose. Letting out a defeated sigh the blonde opened her grey eyes, only to shut them due to the harsh light entering her room from her bedroom window. The blonde scrunched her nose while propping herself up on her elbows, being greeted by soft mewing from her cat, Athena (temporary). Huffing while fulling sitting up and scratching the felines chin, eventually smiling at the sheer cuteness of the animal.

The blonde architect, grabbing her phone from her nightstand, her face unlocking the device, revealing her blueprint background, along with several notifications from social media, text messages, and missed calls, many of the numbers not saved as she usually remembered who they belonged to. Snapping a quick picture of Athena on her chest, she typed in her best friends, Thalia, number, or so she thought.

_ God look at how cute she is! Best decision I ever made._

_ Read at 8:45 A.M._

_Uhm hello? Do you not see how adorable she is? Normally you won't shut up about her._

_ Read at 8:50 A.M_

God, what was her issue? Had they gotten into a fight she didn't remember? Furrowing her brow as she hastily typed a long paragraph about how weird she was being and that if something was wrong she should just be upfront about it.

_**Uhm..who is this?**_

_Oh so now you text back? Quit messing around. _

_**No seriously who is this? Do we work together or something? Have we met before?**_

_Dude what? Thalia quit messing around, it's Annabeth. Annabeth Chase. Did you get drunk and hit your head again?_

_**Well Annabeth Chase, it appears you have the wrong number. **_

Annabeth stared at her phone in disbelief, actually scoffing at the nonsense she had read. What the hell kind of game was Thalia playing? She normally gave up by now. This is weird, even for her. Gasping softly as a soft ding snapped her back to reality, there it was. Thalia's real number. Popped up. _Uh did you forget about the daily picture of Athena? As our agreement for me allowing you to get her._

Shit. Shit. Shit. How could she have been so stupid?! Oh you don't need to save any numbers Annabeth. You'll remember _everyone's _number. God she is such a moron. Switching back to the mystery number she had neglected for those few minutes.

_Well. It appears you are not my friend…_

_ So, are you going to tell me who you are then? Or am I just going to have to guess it?_

_**Percy. Percy Jackson. **_

_** Now, Annabeth. Mind telling me how you got my number in the first place?**_

She quickly typed out the whole story of her idiocy of not saving any numbers and typing his by accident. Did she maybe go too much into detail? Yes. But when did she not?

_**California eh? That's quite the place. I go every summer to visit my best friend Grover, you know him?**_

_ I unfortunately do not know this person. Sorry to burst your bubble. But what part do you visit? Maybe we're close. _

_Read at 9:15 A.M_

Annabeth bit her lip as time slowly ticked by with no response from Percy. Had she maybe scared him off? Embarrassment filled her stomach as she began frantically typing.

_Sorry that might've sounded creepy! Forget everything I said, sorry for bothering you!_

_**San Francisco**_

As she pressed the send button, a message popped up simultaneously, causing her to nearly vomit across her lap. Athena had been watching her intently the entire time, as if she sensed something was happening. Swallowing hard she began to type, not wasting any time with trying to explain how weird she was being. God what was it with this boy? She didn't even know him!

_Oh really! Thats where I live! How exciting. How long do you usually stay? If you don't mind me asking of course._

_**Not at all. I usually stay up until the school year here begins, I'm a swim coach at this boarding school. Pays pretty well for teaching kids how to not drown. **_

Letting out a small chuckle, a wide smile plastered on her face as she began reading the message. Her stomach tightened with anticipation. This was…going well? Maybe she'll finally have more than one friend. Maybe this one will stick around. Taking a deep breath as she calmed herself. The blonde was already getting herself worked up, she needs to take it slow. One text at a time.

_A swimming coach? Boarding school? I bet you live in some rich suburban neighborhood? Am I close?_

_**Not exactly, haha. I live in NYC. The school is in a fairly safe/suburban part of the city. But I live in an apartment that is considerably sketchy and possibly run by gangs. **_

The last part of Percys' message had her a bit worried. Why would he put himself in that kind of danger? Why was she so worried in the first place? Maybe they have some sort of bond, maybe he felt the same. Pushing that thought to the back of her head, she began typing once more.

_ Uhm? As your new best friend I cannot have you living in some sketchy gang ridden neighborhood. I demand you save up and move someplace safer._

Smirking as she hit sent, hoping to have at least earned a laugh from the male, not that she would know of course, but she could hope nonetheless. Moments turned into minutes, which turned into hours. Great, she had really done it this time. Accepting her fate, she slinked out of bed and shuffled into her bathroom, to resume her normal routine. Restroom, brushing her teeth, make breakfast. Her breakfast however became lunch as she had been waiting for this mysterious man to reply like sap who had developed a school girl crush. How pathetic. That did not stop her from diving onto the bed the minute she heard that familiar _ding._ Turning on the screen quickly with a tap, she groaned realizing she forgot to reply to Thalia, she'll just remember to do it later, hopefully.

Nighttime soon fell upon the girl, having come to terms with the possibility of being "ghosted". She wasn't sure if that was the right term due to the lack of any sort of romantic actions going on, but it worked regardless. That is until later that night, Annabeth was curled in bed with Athena, when that _ding_ woke her. Squinting at the harsh light emitting from the screen as her blurred vision focused on the name. The only contact she had saved. Percy Jackson.

The night was spent with the two of them texting back and forth all night, never a lull in the conversation, they simply clicked. She even learned that Percy would been in San Francisco the next week. The grey eyed woman was excited, to say the least. She had not felt like this in weeks. God she's starting to feel like a teen romance cliché.

The remaining week was spent the same way. Texting back and forth, all day and most of the night. Each text adding to the mental picture she was building of Percy. So far he was average height maybe an inch or two above that, dark brown hair which was a shame due to her father being the worst man in her life and having brown hair, with brown eyes. The two talked about every and anything, including this date Thalia had set her up on with some guy she worked with, Luke.

The day leading up to her date, she spent it in bed, staring at the ceiling, millions of scenarios on how the evening would turn out racing through her head. Make up and hair having been done hours prior to her date, her usual routine to whenever she had plans to leave her knock at her door finally broke her out of her thoughts, and led her to the door. Taking a deep breath so to steady herself, Annabeth slowly opened the door.

Something akin to shock ran down her spine to her converse covered feet. Luke was not how Thalia described him whatsoever.

No, he was much, much more handsome. Tall, muscular, blond haired and blue eyed. The entire package.

"You must be Annabeth," A deep, calming voice broke her from her ogling and she jolted in place. A blush rose to her cheeks as she met his blinding smile sheepishly.

"That's me, Annabeth Chase." Clearing her throat in an effort to compose herself she stood taller, a genuine smile reaching her lips. "I've heard so much about you from Thalia, I feel like I know you already." She teased and he laughed, nodding in response.

"It's always good to finally meet the face you've been dying to meet, huh?"

Annabeth was surprised by how taken aback by that statement she was. But she was. Really was.

"It's an amazing feeling," She agreed softly, closing the door behind her as they headed out, thoughts suddenly clouding her mind.

xx

"I had a great time tonight," Luke said, breaking their comfortable silence. Her stomach fluttered in agreement and she rose her gaze to meet his, mouth opening in response—

His eyes did not reflect his statement. Storms seemed to be brewing inside the oceans of his eyes, and his mouth was pursed in a sad small frown. Her eyes widened in surprise at his appearance, the words she were about to speak catching in her throat.

"Tell me, Annabeth," Luke hesitated for a moment before continuing, his frown turning into a wistful smile "Is there somebody else?"

Completely flabbergasted, Annabeth had no idea how to respond to his question. Somebody else? No, of course not! Who else would there even be? Thoughts pounded her mind painfully as she processed and dissected his question, mouth opening and then again closing every few moments as she decided how to word her jumbled thoughts.

"So there is, huh?" He let out a soft laugh, hands burrowing into his pockets. "Look Annabeth, I really enjoyed our date together. Let me know if Mr. Mysterious messes up. I'm only a phone call away. Have a good night." Annabeth wasn't sure when but they had arrived at her apartment. With a nod Luke turned around and began to walk away.

"T-Thank you, Luke." She called after him softly, her mind in turmoil. He rose a hand in acknowledgement and she unlocked her door and walked into the apartment, heart racing with her sudden revelation.

Once inside she finally pulled her phone out of her purse, as she flopped on her bed, several missed texts from Percy, no surprise, she normally did the same to him when he had not responded for awhile.

Percy:

_**Haha, good luck. How is it going? You've been weirdly quiet, this either means he's the love of your life or you've been kidnapped. Ok jokes aside I'm getting worried. Who am I going to replace as my best friend if you're gone? Pretty selfish of you to just leave if I'm being honest. **_

Soft chuckle escaping her lips as her face heated up, she was full on blushing now. This was _not_ a good thing. Was she actually feeling something for Percy? Something romantic? Oh god what has she gotten herself into? No, that was silly. She just enjoyed talking to him. They clicked.

_He was actually the best date I have ever been on. He is the love of my life_

_He completely swept me off my feet. We are eloping tomorrow morning, Im packing my bags for Vegas right now actually. _

She actually laughed this time, at her own little "prank". Minutes passed by, giving her time to change and start taking off her makeup. Once back in bed she grabbed her phone to read the replies, Athen taking her place on her chest.

_**Wait, seriously? **_

_**Wow uhm, congrats?**_

Reading that sent her into another fit of laughter, being cut short as her cat sank claws into her flesh, putting holes into her shirt. Giving the animal several apologetic and annoying kisses before setting her back down, to reply.

_Just kidding. He was hot and amazing and I think he liked me, but…._

Annabeth sighed, pressing the phone against her chest. How could she word this without sounding like a crazy loon?

_**But what? Hot AND amazing? I'm seriously getting jealous over here!**_

_You're jealous?_

She pondered that question for a moment, what if he was jealous? She was not sure how she felt about his potential jealousy. Part of her thought it was ridiculous, what did he need to be jealous for? They're friends. Another part of her was hoping he was jealous, almost wanting him to be, maybe he felt the same way for her. Equally confused and excited of what this meant. The ding snapped her out of her little day dream and brought her focus back to her phone.

___**No way! I'm too good looking to be jealous over some guy. We've been friends for a couple of days now. **_

_**We're practically already married at this point. So hate to break it too you, but you are not allowed to cheat on me. :P **_

Annabeth's face got red at that instant, going a shade darker each time she read it. He did not really say that? Did he? No, it was probably just her dyslexia screwing with her somehow, despite not affecting her in this way at all. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down before picking up her phone and switching conversation, going right to Thalia and texting her everything that had just happened. She was met with a FaceTime call right after. The first thing she heard was a loud shriek. Once they had talked it over she went back to her conversation with Percy and typed two short words along with a picture of herself, one approved by Thalia of course.

_Prove it. _

Taking several deep breaths to slow her heart rate, she didn't know what had come over her. God she had done it now. Her heart continued to race, beating faster and faster in her chest, threatening to break out. Closing her eyes once again and taking several deep breaths, finally able to calm herself briefly, until she heard that ding.

_**Percy Jackson:**_

_**Attachment 1 Image:**_

Hesitantly tapping on the notification, allowing her face to unlock the phone and taking a last breath before opening the message, jaw instantly dropping. She had been _so_ wrong about Percy. Instead of light brown hair, there was hair dark as night. Soft browns turned into a sea green surrounded by red imprints from the goggles atop his head. Her chest tightened as her storm cloud eyes scanned over every inch of the photo. He was in the pool so he must either be working or swimming. He had a nice body from what she could tell, muscular, but not extremely bulky. Annabeth guessed she was wrong about his height as well based on being wrong about everything else.

_**Well? Did I prove you wrong or are you just laughing at me with your friends? Both are reasonable reactions**_

The blonde woman was at a loss for words. She couldn't form a coherent thought let alone reply back to Percy. She figured he was attractive but she didn't expect that. Curling into a ball clutching her phone to her chest. She really liked Luke, but Percy was…she didn't even know how she felt about him, how should she feel about him? She didn't even know him, yet it was as if they had been together their whole lives. In the few days they had been talking, she had never connected with someone more. They shared nearly every detail of their lives with one another, but they're just friends. Right? If that was the case then why did her heart ache for him? To be near him, to read his name a thousand times. Sitting up right and rubbing her face before turning back to her phone.

_Nice goggle marks, dork._

That was smooth. Right? That's what normal people say to someone they may or may not have extreme feelings for. Especially when it was true, the marks somehow made him ten times more adorable while everything else was just…hot. But that's what made Percy—Percy. She felt a dumb smile curl her lip at the thought.

_On a serious note, I am impressed. You do appear to be just barely attractive enough to avoid jealousy._

Finally having calmed down, Annabeth pulled out her sketchbook from her nightstand and began finishing up a blueprint for a project she had been working on, a bit of freelance work for some extra money, so she could go and do something with Percy when he came to visit Grover. She hated to admit it, but part of her wanted him to just spend time with her, just skip his friend entirely, but she would just have to settle with meeting him a few times if she was lucky.

_**Oh haha very funny Wise Girl. Getting me all worried like that. Just admit you think I'm good looking. **_

_**You'll get the real thing when we meet up next week. You don't plan on bailing on me right? I'd hate to be stood up on our first date. It would be quite rude if I'm being honest.**_

A date? Did she read that right? Did Percy just ask her out on a date? Oh my god she has a date with Percy Jackson! Her thumping heart suddenly slowed to what felt like a halt. Eyes going wide as she dropped on chest. All the negativity she had been suppressing came surging forward, like a dam that had been destroyed. What if he was lying about how he really was just to use her? What if he had been playing her this whole time and he wasn't even coming to San Francisco? What if she wasn't good enough for a guy like him? She took in a deep breath and picked up her phone again. She couldn't afford to think like this right now. She had one shot with Percy and she wasn't going to waste it.

_Haha, yeah. Looking forward to it Seaweed Brain._

xx

The day had finally come and she was frozen in bed. Percy had landed last night and they planned on meeting up at the beach in a few hours. Well more like thirty minutes. She couldn't move, couldn't think, and could barely breathe. She was utterly terrified, was she making the right choice in meeting some stranger she accidentally texted? Her heart began racing at the endless negative outcomes that could occur with meeting Percy Jackson. Her phone began dinging several times. Turning it over slowly she almost vomited right then and there. Percy Jackson.

_**Hey Annabeth, I'm finally here at the beach, where ya at?**_

_ Read at 9:56 am_

_**Uh you still coming? I feel kinda awkward just sitting here alone, I got us a good spot.**_

_**Also I may or may not have have packed us a picnic with your favorite things. I remember you telling me you've always wanted a picnic on the beach. So I figured I would make it happen.**_

_ Read at 10:16am _

_**Hey… looks like you're not coming. A heads up would have been nice. See you around maybe. **_

Tears welled into her eyes. She wanted to go, to be with him. He'd been nothing but sweet and this is how she repaid him, by forcing him to be all alone at the beach where he didn't know a single soul, anything could have happened to him and it would have been her fault. She was right about one thing, she was not good enough for Percy Jackson, she wasn't certain anyone would ever be good enough for him.

Several hours passed, the texts replaying in her mind over and over like a film reel stuck on a loop, each second she began hating herself more and more. How pathetic, she finally found someone she actually liked and they liked her back, and she screwed it all up. She had one shot with him and she blew it, destroyed their relationship in a matter of minutes. Swallowing hard, she grabbed her phone and went to Percy's name.

_Hey, meet me at 5927 California St, San Francisco, CA 94121. Be there in twenty minutes, I want to make this right Percy…please_

Hitting send and bolting out of bed she slipped into a shirt he had sent her from a summer camp he had went to as a kid and some jean shorts. Adding to the cliché she slipped into her checkered vans and put her hair into a loose ponytail, racing to her car.

xx

Arriving at the cafe, Annabeth parked and leapt out of her car. She quietly muttered apologies as she brushed through the crowd entering the store, head whipping back and forth to search for a certain green eyed seaweed brain.

_I'm so stupid. I really messed up. _Annabeth cursed herself internally, dread filling her stomach as no signs of him appeared.

Her shoulders sagged in defeat and she turned back to head to her car stopping as she slammed into a titan of a person. Stumbling back and landing on the ground, growling as she lifted her head to scold whoever she ran into, but froze when she saw _him. _

"Percy…you came. You showed up.."

She was at a loss for words as tears filled her eyes, she slowly stood up with the help of Percy who had extended his hand, surprising her when he didn't pull away from her once she was up. She found comfort in the simple gesture, maybe she could fix this after all.

"I-I'm so…"

She was cut off by a wave of his hand. Annabeth gave him a confused look but closed her mouth nonetheless. Biting her lip as she looked down, ashamed at what she had done to him.

"Look, I get it. I was a complete wreck on the plane here. I kept thinking about how you seemed to enjoy this Luke guy more than you would if it were me. But I also thought about how it would be once we actually met, and I realized that it didn't matter how I was with you, just as long as we were together, that would be enough."

She was yet again stunned, frozen in place. She found herself lost in those sea green eyes, smiling at his words and how they shared doubts. Taking his other hand before intertwining their fingers, biting her lip as she soon began smiling. Her eyes widening briefly before closing as she found his lips on hers, her arms now wrapping around his neck as his large hands held her slim waist.

Maybe texting the wrong number, wasn't a bad thing.


End file.
